Fresno Philharmonic Interviews: Conductor Candidate Rei Hotoda

The Fresno Philharmonic welcomes its fifth candidate for the vacant position of music director and conductor to the community this week with Rei Hotoda, who leads the orchestra in a concert Sunday at the Saroyan Theatre featuring Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 and a contemporary piece by Pulitzer-prize winning Chinese-American composer Zhou Long. Rei Hotoda is currently the Associate Conductor Utah Symphony. She has a doctorate in piano performance from USC and also studied at both Peabody and Eastman. She joined us to talk about her career and her vision for classical music in the 21st century.

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Sameer Patel is the first of six candidates hoping to become the next conductor and musical director of the Fresno Philharmonic. The current Associate Conductor of the San Diego Symphony, Patel brings a youthful passion to his work, and numerous honors, including the Solti Foundation’s U.S. 2016 Career Assistance Award. His artistry will be on display at the Saroyan Theater this weekend as the leads the orchestra in a concert featuring works by Mozart, Sibelius and Jonathan Leshnoff.

This weekend, the Fresno Philharmonic continues its Masterworks Concert series with a performance featuring the music of Aaron Copland and George Gershwin. It’s also something of a job interview, as guest conductor Aram Demirjian is one of the six finalists for the position of music director and conductor of the orchestra. He is currently the conductor and music director of the Knoxville Symphony and was the Associate Conductor of the Kansas City Symphony. He joined us to talk about his career, the concert, and his Armenian heritage.

This weekend Fresno audiences will get a chance to see and hear another of the six candidates hoping to become the next music director and conductor of the Fresno Philharmonic. On Sunday guest conductor Daniel Meyer leads the orchestra in concert at the Saroyan Theatre. A native of Cleveland, Meyer currently leads orchestras in Asheville, NC and Erie, PA.